Grip for bowling balls



United States Patent 2,703,712 GRIP FOR BOWLING BALLS Ralph C. ()benchain, Willoughby, Ohio Application June 23, 1953, Serial No. 363,552 4 Claims. (Cl. 273-63) The present invention relates to bowling balls and more particularly to a new and improved grip for a bowling ball to allow the user to more easily handle the ball. In a bowling ball for the game of tenpins, the diameter is standard and may not be greater than the maximum set by the ruling association, and thus the circumference is a fixed sphere of which the curvature on the center plane is normally an arc of a circle of greater diameter than is the curve of the hand of the user.

Thus the hand of the user is forced out of its natural position when using either a two fingered grip or a grip of more than two fingers. In measuring a ball for the thumb and finger holes, the size or diameter of the holes is first determined to allow the thumb and finger or fingers to slide easily into and out of the holes but the holes should be of such a size to allow the thumb and finger or fingers a secure grip. To aid in obtaining a firm grip without the necessity of pinching the hand tightly the holes are normally bored at an angle that differs from a true radius of the sphere, the usual angles being so arranged that the center lines of the holes would cross above the 1tgenlter of the ball when the holes are at the top of the The exact angle of the holes has been varied by different ball manufacturers and for different individuals and there are several fairly well accepted types of drilling angles used and recommended by various individuals.

My present improved grip is equally adaptable to the various types of grips now in use and allows the hand to assume a normal, easy position in the thumb and finger holes without the usual strain due to the outer curvature of the ball because of its diameter.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said invention, then, consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawings and the following description setting forth in detail certain structure embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting, however, but one of the various structural forms in which the principle of the invention may be used.

In said annexed drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a bowling ball showing the position of the thumb hole and finger hole and groove;

Fig. 2 is a similar View of a ball but showing a two fingered grip; and

Fig. 3 is a section through a part of the ball on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 3, the bowling ball is shown as having a thumb hole 11 of proper size and drilled at the angle desired by the user, the center 12 of the ball being shown and the center line 13 of the hole 11 being indicated. I

In drilling the finger hole 15, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, it is first determined as to size, that is, the diameter to fit the second finger of the user, and the span 16 or distance between the finger and thumb holes is determined so as to fit the users hand.

In the present invention a groove 17 is cut from the finger hole back toward the thumb hole. This groove, as best shown in Fig. 2, is of a depth A equal to approximately one-half of the diameter of the finger hole at "the inner edge of the hole and tapering outwardly to the surface of the ball at a point 20 approximately onethird of the span. This distance 21, or length of the groove, is determined by the distance between the finger joint 22 as inserted in the finger hole and a point on the .surface of the ball which is under the knuckle joint 23 of the hand, thus allowing the hand to assume a normal grasping position with the finger at an angle to the palm of the hand.

Of course the span 16 of the present ball is measured from the inner edge of the finger hole and groove to the adjacent edge of the thumb hole and this span should 2,703,712 Patented Mar. 8, 1955 be the same length as the span on a normally drilled ball without the grooves.

The grooves extend generally from the finger holes toward the thumb hole but, as shown in Figs 1 and 2, are preferably not directly in line, that is, a center line drawn from the thumb hole to the finger hole is not parallel to a center line of the groove, in the form shown.

The form shown is what is commonly called an offset grip which is substantially the normal position of the thumb and fingers when grasping a ball with holes. Each groove as stated is first approximately one-half the depth of the diameter of the finger hole and is as wide as the diameter of the finger hole so that there is no tendency for the finger to hang or look in the groove as the ball leaves the hand of the user.

In the case of a three fingered ball, as shown in Fig. 1, the grooves for the two finger holes are substantially par allel and are both offset slightly to let the hand adapt itself naturally to the ball.

In this type of grip the wall between the holes and grooves forms an upstanding fin which fits between the fingers and serves to aid the bowler in the proper control of the ball as the ball leaves the hand.

The present grip is equally adaptable to balls with the offset or the regular type of grip. It is also adaptable to various grips in which the pitch of the finger holes and thumb holes are varied to suit the individual likes of the bowler. It has been found, however, that ordinarily the thumb hole should be drilled more toward the radial than usual as the bending of the hand tends to make the thumb straighter toward the ball center than in the normal grip.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 153,887 filed April 4, 1950, which is now abandoned.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A bowling ball having conventional thumb and finger holes characterized by a groove equal in width to that of the finger hole and extending from the finger hole toward the thumb hole, the groove having a maximum depth of approximately one-half of the diameter of the finger hole and gradually decreasing in depth toward the thumb hole and terminating in the surface of the ball approximately at one-third of the span of the holes to produce a surface corresponding generally to the curvature of the hand of the user when the finger and thumb are in the holes.

2. A bowling ball as defined in claim 1 in which the groove is off-set from the thumb hole so that a center line drawn from the thumb hole to the finger hole is not parallel to the center line of the groove.

3. A bowling ball having a conventional thumb hole and a pair of finger holes spaced from the thumb hole and lying side by side, each finger hole having a groove of the width of the finger hole extending from the finger hole toward the thumb hole, each groove having a maximum depth of approximately one-half the diameter of the hole at its juncture therewith and gradually decreasing in depth toward the thumb hole and merging with the surface of the ball at approximately one-third of the distance between each finger hole and the thumb hole, said spaced finger holes and grooves forming an upstanding fin between the holes fitting between the fingers of the bowler to assist in controlling the ball in use, the bottoms of the grooves forming surfaces corresponding generally to the curvature of the hand of the user when the fingers and thumb are in the holes.

4. A bowling ball as defined in claim 3 in which the grooves are substantially parallel and are off-set from the thumb hole so that a center line drawn from the thumb hole to the finger holes is not parallel to a center line of either groove.

Robinson Nov. 26, 1940 Shepard Jan. 25, 1944 

